Now that I am famous for "the method". I will ask you the critical question.
What do you REALLY want to do with these moving lights?
-Change colors within a restricted set of choices... buy a
scroller
-Active color mixing... buy a
Seachanger,
or Wybron CXI or Apollo MXR or Morpheus ColorFader.
-Ability to reposition lights between cues.... buy an
I-cue or
Right Arm
-Make things move... buy a
Gobo rotator,
Rosco X-effects,
Rosco Infinity animation, City EFX Plus,
Gam FilmFX,
Gam Scen Machine,
Gam SX4
-Make the
image shrink/grow... buy a City
DMX Iris
-Strobe... buy a
Strobe...
What do you need the expensive mover for? DJ effects? Do you really want a set of movers that spins and does concert lighting tricks in
unison? You are going to need a new
console to do that.
The basic principle of The Method is this. For live theater, the vast majority of the time you only need one or two of the tricks above. So buy the specific tricks that you need. How many times a year do you do a show where you need
this spinning and changing colors? What you do probably need is a water or fire
effect, or some lights that can change colors.
The Gafftaper Method says buy the components and you'll find you get more tricks that you ACTUALLY use for your money. I had a budget of about $50k for toys in my
system. I could have purchased 5
Mac 700's. Instead I got 20 Seachangers, 2 rotators, 2 Infinity Effects, 4 right arms, 4 I-cues, and 2
DMX Iris. All of it far more useful on a regular basis than just 4 movers.
Lets put it this way... Below is the feature list of the
MAC 700
profile (one of the top choices for theater).
* 700 W short arc discharge lamp...
Bright and higher color temperature than "the method" but this also means it will not blend well with the rest of your lighting rig.
*
CMY color mixing system...
buy a Seachanger
* 8 position color wheel plus open...
you have a seachanger
* Motorized
zoom and focus...
ok, we can't do that. AutoYoke® has an AutoFocus option.
* Mechanical dimming...
no problem it's called a dimmer
*
Gobo animation wheel with full movement / direction control...
buy a Rosco Infinity Effects
* 9 static and 6 indexable rotating gobos plus open...
buy a rotator
* Interchangeable 3-facet rotating
prism...
got me on this one too... but do you need it? City Theatrical's Image Multiplexer.
* Motorized
iris...
City Theatrical DMX Iris
*
Strobe effect 2 - 10 Hz, pulse effects, instant open and
blackout...
buy a strobe or a strobe cap.
* Pan and tilt range of 540°/246°...
I-cue or Right Arm
* Variable fan control for quieter operation...
not a problem
* Modular design for easy maintenance and servicing...
even easier and cheaper with components
* Electronic
ballast with hot lamp restrike and flicker free light...
not a problem
Edits by derekleffew.